The post-war international liberal order is under threat. While traditional multilateral global governance prospered in the first two decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the work of international organizations has become fiercely contested in recent years. And it’s not just the BRICS who are piling on the pressure – the very architects of that post-war order are shaking its foundations.

A zero-sum approach to multilateralism under the Trump administration has led the US to withdraw or distance itself from a number of international organizations. Meanwhile, the UK’s decision to leave the EU may reflect a broader popular sentiment that international organizations are simultaneously too distant, too intrusive, and too ineffective.

On the occasion of the publication of the 3rd edition of the popular textbook International Organization, Thomas Conzelmann (FASoS), Hylke Dijkstra (FASoS), Anke Moerland (LAW) and Andrea Ott (LAW) will debate the crisis of the international liberal order and what Europe and the EU can do to support the existing system of global governance.

This debate will be chaired by Roberta Haar (UCM) and is the first event in the new Studio Europa Lecture Series established by the Maastricht, Working on Europe programme.

The Roundtable will bring together multiple approaches to the place of law in popular culture. Further, the Roundtable will show the manner in which popular culture
affects law and the understanding by actors in society. Previous experiences at UM include a MaRBLe Project directed by Jan Smits, having gathered papers by students
on alternative perceptions of justice. The Roundtable aims to trigger further interest on this area of study, alerting on the value that non-conventional approaches to law
offer to the better understanding of social sciences.

In May, Europeans will elect their European representatives. These elections, which come at a particularly tumultuous time for the European Union, will mark the 40th anniversary of the direct elections to the European Parliament. Many in fact claim that the European Union is bound to change dramatically soon after the elections.